Take a closer look at our stats, accolades and facts that reflect why Clarkson delivers a great return on education; how our mission, vision, values and plans for the future honor our history; the university leaders who bring perspective and expertise to our boundary-spanning education; and our appreciation of a global community that compels us to engage in solutions and innovative technologies to create real wealth for society.

Wanted: Competitive collaborators, thinkers, doers, dreamers and believers who want to go beyond the status quo and join teams creating what’s next. The Clarkson experience is designed for talented and ambitious students who want a hands-on and global ready education. The results lead to accelerated career opportunities, rewarding and creative personal lives, and deep lifetime connections. Are you ready? Meet our admissions team and explore your options.

Get publicity for your story or check out our news releases, Clarkson news clips, social media conversations, photo galleries and extensive calendar of on and off campus events, meetings, symposia, sports and more. See why at Clarkson we are the place and time to defy convention by continually asking “What’s next?” The answers can come from anywhere—undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff and alumni—and we expect (and respect) the unexpected.

Making Concrete Sustainably

This year, around 12 Billion tons of concrete will be made around the world. And this requires around one-and-a-half million tons of cement. But for every ton of cement produced, a ton of carbon dioxide is released into the air. This is partly the result of chemical reactions when key ingredients, like limestone and clay, are heated to 1400-degrees Celsius. The wide-spread use of coal to reach these temperatures is also a culprit. But what if concrete could be made more sustainably?

Sulapha Peethamparan is working on a multi-faceted project that could usher in widespread use of “green” concrete.

“By the year 2050,” she says, “it’s estimated that 18 Billion tons of concrete will be produced annually. We’re conducting research on concrete that uses none of the energy-intensive, traditional cement.”

This is a tall challenge. Concrete is the construction material used most around the world, she says, because its ingredients — cement, water and aggregate — are cheap and readily available. To develop a better option, Peethamparan is using fly ash and slag. These are industrial by-products. Waste, essentially, that can be recycled and re-purposed to make concrete.

But their use poses other challenges, including questions about strength, transportability and durability. And concrete that is completely cement-free must contain an activating agent, like alkali. But using such material raises concerns that concrete can leach harmful chemicals into water.

The National Science Foundation and New York State Pollution Prevention Institute have awarded Peethamparan $500,000 for multi-year research that will put sustainable concrete to the test. This includes nano-scale characterization to learn more about the nature of non-traditional concrete.

“Right now,” she says, “cement production is responsible for six percent of the world’s greenhouse gases causing climate change. We can reduce that, possibly to zero. This research can really change things for the better.”